We’re Number… Three?
We lost out to both New York City and Washington DC, this time in the contest for the town with the highest earnings. Here are the Top Ten, courtesy of CNN/Money, of the places with the highest median family incomes.
| 1 | Bethesda, MD | $184,606 |
| 2 | Greenwich, CT | $167,502 |
| 3 | Palo Alto, CA | $163,661 |
| 4 | Newport Beach, CA | $156,928 |
| 5 | Lower Merion, PA | $153,309 |
| 6 | Ashburn, VA | $146,093 |
| 7 | Newton, MA | $145,639 |
| 8 | Hoboken, NJ | $140,780 |
| 9 | Brookline, MA | $139,756 |
| 10 | Fairfield, CT | $136,808 |
People, this is not good. Not only did High Tech lose out to High Finance and High Crimes and Misdemeanors, but there’s Highly-wood right behind us. Also this list is disturbingly full of Least Coasters.
Here’s what they thought of The Specialest Place of Them All (Not Including Mountain View, because for Pete’s Sake, Palo Alto may be Special but it does Not Have Google Anymore).
3. Palo Alto, CA 3 of 25
Population: 65,260
Median family income: $163,661
Median home price: $1,225,000Nestled in California’s Silicon Valley, Palo Alto has attracted a pile of tech companies — and their CEOs. Not only does tech granddaddy HP have its headquarters here, but so do newbies like Pinterest and Ning. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has a house in Palo Alto, as did Steve Jobs. Stanford University, which falls within its boundaries, adds to the city’s prestige.
Palo Alto nurtures startups and the money that results from their successes. Its residents reap the rewards. Area schools are exceptional, while the city has 35 parks and a Mediterranean climate that varies by only 20 degrees year-round.
Did you know that Palo Alto’s climate was More Special than that of any of the surrounding Not As Special cities? Perhaps Redwood City (Motto: Climate Best by Government Test) is going to have to come over and punch them out for getting airs.
Oh yeah, and Mark Zuckerberg is mostly hanging out in San Francisco these days. Could he have picked up this little pied-a-terre? Just kidding, that place was sold to a school, which is now awash in neighborhood NIMBY lawsuits. But have a look at this SocketSite discussion and see if you can figure out where Mark bought. Two possibilities: 366 Liberty or 376 Hill.
October 21st, 2012 at 8:00 am
Hoboken made the list? Seriously, Hoboken????
October 21st, 2012 at 9:08 am
As we all know, if you make that family income, you cannot afford to live in Palo Alto.
October 21st, 2012 at 10:46 am
Sure you can, RE. The family just needs to have bought their house 15 years ago. Houses were cheaper and Prop 13 keeps their taxes artificially low.
October 21st, 2012 at 11:14 am
“Many of their well-paid executives call it home for the short commute, the excellent school system and access to outdoor attractions…”
“Bring your checkbook and your Swiss bank account. Home prices can run from half a million, all the way up to $33 million for a 15,000-square-foot estate with 15-bedrooms and 17 baths.”
Palo Alto? nope.
October 21st, 2012 at 1:47 pm
nomadic,
Am I hearing this right? You’re saying buying early is the way to mitigate rising prices?
October 21st, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Nope. He’s suggesting to buy 15 years ago.
October 21st, 2012 at 4:31 pm
SEA,
Your brain must be short circuited. It’s the same as saying if you buy now, you will thank yourself 15 years later.
October 21st, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Despite being #3, some Palo Alto families manage to raise many children.
October 21st, 2012 at 5:36 pm
madhaus,
Isn’t it about time we see a feature on the new Sunnyvale Town Center, the project you said would never happen?
October 21st, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Will the rate of housing prices change be above the cost of capital for the next 15 years?
October 21st, 2012 at 6:23 pm
Isn’t it about time we see a feature on the new Sunnyvale Town Center, the project you said would never happen?
Feel free to write it up. Guest posts are more than welcome.
Are you sure I said it would “never” be built? Is 16 years an acceptable amount of time to rebuild a shopping center? Is Town & Country rebuilt (hint: no)?
October 21st, 2012 at 11:29 pm
I don’t have the time. I have a job and rental properties to manage. You don’t have any of these. Besides, it’s your town!
October 21st, 2012 at 11:36 pm
It’s really weird that you don’t like to talk about Sunnyvale Town Center. We’ve talked about Palo Alto like 1000 times, and even talked about some far away places nobody even heard of. Yet, no coverage on such a significant local development known as Sunnyvale Town Center!
October 21st, 2012 at 11:37 pm
Clicking through the list, it is interesting how low the correlation between median household income and median house price is. Also, does household income take into account how many retired people there are in Palo Alto? Because on any weekday morning at the Ross Road YMCA you’ll see an assload of them clogging up all of the cardio machines.
October 22nd, 2012 at 2:35 am
It’s really weird that you don’t like to talk about Sunnyvale Town Center. We’ve talked about Palo Alto like 1000 times, and even talked about some far away places nobody even heard of. Yet, no coverage on such a significant local development known as Sunnyvale Town Center!
Surely you are exaggerating to make a humorous point. According to the handy little right-hand column, Palo Alto posts have only appeared 148 times.
Are you sure I never talked about Sunnyvale Town Center? Are you super sure? Super-duper sure? Rrrrrrrreal sure? How come you never talk about Sunnyvale Town & Country? You got Romnesia or something?
October 22nd, 2012 at 8:08 am
“I don’t have the time. I have a job and rental properties to manage. You don’t have any of these. Besides, it’s your town!”
Cashing those checks takes so much time. Or is it changing the light bulbs that takes so much time?
October 22nd, 2012 at 9:05 am
Cashing those checks takes so much time.
—–
Provided he gets one.
Writing ABOUT the check on Burbed is probably the only time-consumption regarding this specific matter.
October 22nd, 2012 at 9:18 am
Likely true: He spends more time writing than cashing checks. You know, he has to write checks for 15 years to thank himself later.
October 22nd, 2012 at 10:13 am
Writing ABOUT the check on Burbed is probably the only time-consumption regarding this specific matter.
Unless he has a deadbeat tenant. It can take a lot of time to chase them for money and do eviction paperwork.